Tag Archives: crafts

I think the cookies are trying to tell me something….

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I’m hoping this means I should just keep on keeping on with The Carousel Cowgirl and things will start kicking into high gear! I’ve already had a much more successful Jan/Feb than I expected, so there’s that! I get in these funks with my crafting, and this year it seems to be worse because I’m also in a SAHM funk (more on that later), but I’m trying hard to drag myself out of it and land on top of my game again.

Poor Wade, his cookie didn’t even have a fortune in it. I wonder what that means? Can’t be good. Ha!!

SAHM Funk: Let’s get real for a minute. I know this is totally going to sound very “First World Problem” to a lot of you, but lately I’m having a tough go of the SAHM thing. Don’t get me wrong, I love being at home with Wyatt, and the extra time with Tatum when she’s not at school. I am also super grateful to Wade for making it all possible for me. But after a while, there’s only so much sitting at home staring at your adorable son who is incapable of having a conversation with you, adult or otherwise, that one can take. I feel so isolated so much of the time. It’s a funny cycle because the more isolated you feel, the more you kind of hole up in the house and dread going out.

I know, it seems stupid, but it’s real. I spend a lot of time with no adult interaction and it’s starting to get to me. I have very few friends who don’t work, and so yes, I need to make some more SAHM friends. The problem with that is that the flu is so bad right now it’s a little scary venturing out to playgroups and whatnot. Also (and those of you who know me well may be surprised at this) but I’ve started having a lot of social anxiety centered around these Moms Groups.

“I don’t know anyone that will be there.”

“What if no one talks to me?”

“What if they don’t like me?”

Dude, it’s like school days all over again. I start to freak out a little inside at the thought of having to CREATE intelligent conversations, when inside that’s all I’m craving.

Weird. I know. *sigh*

So now I’ve decided I need to “date” the friends I have, and force myself into some new social situations to make some new ones.

Sounds easy, right?

If only. šŸ˜¦

8/19/17

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I’m just going to start with the pictures since I know that’s all anyone ever looks at anyway lol!

Had a pretty good day today!! Started the day with something exciting that I can’t talk about right now but it’s pretty big/good news from our perspective. We took Tatum to the grand opening event at Lonestar Mercantile this morning and MAN what a crowd!! Stacie and I had pretty good sales today and I’m excited for what is hopefully to come from the booth there!

After nap we had Avery’s third birthday party and Tatum had a blast! She loves playing with her friends! ā¤ļø Can’t wait for Tatum’s pony party next month, I think all the kiddos will flip over that one!!

Tomorrow we’re headed to the flea market for our monthly pony ride and kettle corn and then not really sure what we’ll do after that besides dinner with the fam! Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!!

8/18/17

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Momming hard this evening!

Wade got back from out of town about 11pm last night. As of right now, 8:30pm on Friday night he is approaching his 14th hour of working today and I am kind of single-parenting it. I just caught Tatum swinging from the bars of her carriage bed like a monkey, and Wyatt is restless and won’t sleep. Send alcohol, y’all, it’s getting real up in here.

Big news this week:

-I had my eye recheck with the specialist and as of right now the Pars Planitis seemed to respond great to the month of oral steroids and is now gone! Let’s Home it stays that way!!

-My booth has done pretty well its first 5 days of being open and I’ve made some really good sales!!! Really encouraged by this and hope it keeps up!!

I’ve had a lot of fun with my mom this week, she came over Tuesday to spend the week with me and the kids. She was such a huge help!! I’m really missing her a lot right now with Wade still stuck working. I’m hoping he doesn’t get screwed this weekend so we can have some family time! I promised Tatum we could go ride the ponies this weekend at the flea market and we have Avery’s birthday party tomorrow evening that she’s really looking forward to!

Someone partied a little too hard. šŸ˜œ

On to the weekend!!!

8/15/17

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I have been so lame and haven't blogged at all in a while. I've been sick with this upper respiratory my sweet three year old passed on to me and between that and taking care of the kiddos I just haven't had much energy for blogging!

We had a good weekend though, two wonderful birthday parties for Tatum's friends on Saturday, and Sunday we had family breakfast followed by a trip to High Street Antiques, a nap, and then dinner with the grandparents!!

Monday I had my grand opening at Lonestar, and I sold two things and was super excited!! I was going to be so disappointed if I didn't sell a thing the first day! Of course, I spent way more than I made… I'll have to watch that 😜

Today I spent the day knocking a few things off my To Do list!! Got my beads all organized (again, it never ends I swear), the guest room cleaned up for my mom to stay with us this week (Wade is out of town), laundry done, planning done, AND the big one… the hall closet completely cleaned out!!! That was a BIG one I really wanted to get done!

I seriously have enough wrapping paper that I will have to will it to my children…

Mom and I took Tatum to get her hair cut this afternoon then took the kiddos to dinner. Tatum was SUPER good this evening for everything from her hair to going to bed. I was really proud of her and made sure to tell her how happy I was with her. She seemed really pleased with herself. šŸ™‚

Tomorrow I have nothing planned, but I'm sure mom and I can get into something! 😜 Have a good night, interwebz!

8/9/17

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Well…. I quit my job today.

It’s kind of a shock for me really, I’ve been managing that place for 9 years and it’s become, well, kind of “mine”. Ā But the time has come for me to try something new, and I really want to spend more time with my kiddos before they’re grown. Ā This is time with them I’ll never get back and I don’t want to miss out on it. Ā It was a really tough decision for me to make, but I’m confident it was the right one. Ā I’ll still fill in here and there for vacations and/or people calling in sick occasionally, but technically as of right now I’m officially unemployed, and it feels kind of weird.

I have to say though, the one thing I won’t miss? Ā Catering to these crazy-ass high maintenance dog owners every single day. Ā =) Ā I don’t think there’s a person in their right mind that would miss that, and it has honestly been wearing on my sanity for a while. Ā Don’t get me wrong, I loved my job and I loved *most* of my customers, and I loved my coworkers, but there’s that “Special” few, you know? Ā The absolute crazies. Ā =) Ā That’s who I won’t miss.

So this will start the new chapter on my new “Stay at Home Mom” lifestyle, and we’ll see how well I cope. =) Ā I’m looking forward to spending time with my new booth at Lonestar Mercantile and that’s something I can take the kids with me when I need to as I only really need to go up there to restock and rearrange (and shop!).Ā I’m looking forward to trying new crafts and finally having time to put together those scrapbooks I’ve been putting off for years. Ā And I’m having fun meal planning and trying new recipes out as well! Ā I’ve been surprised so far at how full my days have been just with the tasks I give myself to do every day, and how quickly time passes during the day, so I’m hopeful I won’t go too stir crazy. Ā =)

So here’s to new adventures! Ā Onward and upward! Ā ā¤

8/6/17

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It's been a rough day today, full of sad, sick little kiddos. Tatum has run a 100-102 fever all day and when this afternoon after Tylenol (we've been alternating Tylenol/Motrin every three hours with little improvement) she started to head up past 104 instead of down we took her back to pediatric urgent care.

Who knew a urine specimen cup could be so amazing?

After a urine test and a chest X-ray we have a diagnosis of Bronchitis/Walking Pneumonia. 😢 They put her on a second antibiotic on top of the one she started last night, so hopefully things will start to look up. She's looked so sad and pitiful all day. šŸ˜¦

Wyatt didn't have the best day either. I still can't decide if he's got the same virus Tatum started all this out with over a week ago (I hope not) or if it's because he seems to be stopped up again and hasn't pooped since Thursday evening. I guess tomorrow I'll be headed to the store at some point to get baby suppositories for him, which sounds like a blast….. literally.

We did get the last couple shelves installed at the booth at Lonestar and a couple clip lights to help brighten things up and now we just need Stacie's sign for Tick Tock Crafts and all her stuff loaded in there!! I'm really excited about opening day, and I have a bunch more stuff to make and take over there this week to be ready for it!

Headed off to bed as I negotiate the challenge of sick toddler home with newborn tomorrow. Wish me luck!!

8/2/17

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My main goal today was to get up to Lonestar Mercantile and get my frames moved around so that normal height people can reach them, and I’m happy to say that not only did that get accomplished but a whole crapload of other stuff got done too!

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We still need to add Stacie’s stuff from Tick Tock Crafts, and I have some other things I’m making for opening like some fall/pumpkin themed stuff and more Allen High School spirit necklaces/jewelry, but so far I think it’s really coming along well! Ā Excited to share my love of crafts AND vintage (especially the PYREX!)

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Speaking of Pyrex, I finished off my Pink Gooseberry Refrigerator Dish set today! Ā Isn’t it GORGEOUS? Ā I really love the pink patterns, they’re really filling up my display cabinets too. Ā LOL! Ā And of course now there’s this huge surge in the Pyrex craze so I’m sure some of this stuff is going to start getting expensive to get my hands on! (Not like it isn’t already.)

Wyatt spent some time being unimpressed by me while I worked on my TO DO list for the day, but this afternoon with the weather being so nice we took a trip outside to look around. Ā I don’t think he was much impressed by that either, but at least it was a change of things to be unimpressed by. Ā *grin*

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And finally here’s a picture of my sad (but delicious) dinner that I ate by myself because Wade is still at work even though it’s almost 9:30pm. Ā Delicious Chicken Tacos I made with my amazing Crock Pot:

Crock-Pot 6-Quart Programmable Cook & Carry Slow Cooker with Digital Timer, Stainless Steel , SCCPVL610-S

Can you sense a theme with my cooking? Ā With a newborn (ok, I guess he’s an “infant” now that he’s over a month) in the house, I am ALL ABOUT the quick and easy. Ā I’ve been relying heavily on both my Crockpot and Instant Pot the last few weeks to get dinner made and on the table with a minimum of fuss, and since I was doing bedtime for both kids by myself tonight I was really relieved to have dinner done and ready to go. Ā Tatum even approves of this recipe!!

3-Ingredient Slow Cooker Taco Chicken

  • 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 4 breast halves)
  • 1 tsp. medium-hotĀ taco seasoningĀ or 1 tbsp. mild taco seasoning (adjust to your desired spiciness ā€“ this is for mildly spicy)
  • 1 cup mild salsa
  • for serving: tortillas, shredded cheese, avocado or guacamole, tomatoes, additional salsa, etc.
Directions
  1. Place chicken in bottom ofĀ slow cooker. Sprinkle with taco seasoning. Spoon salsa on top of chicken and spread to cover chicken.
  2. Cook on low for 3-4 hours, or on high for 2 hours, until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken to a plate to cool slightly, along with any salsa that is on top of the chicken. Shred with two forks or your fingers andĀ place in a bowl. Stir in some of the liquid from the slow cooker, starting with Ā¼ cup and adding more as desired.
  3. Serve chicken in tortillas with toppings as desired.

7/28/17

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Whew, rough day for Wyatt, but hopefully things will be looking up soon!

After his epic barfing yesterday I was somewhat prepared for the cluster that today's feedings have been. He's been getting progressively more fussy/grunty over the last couple days especially at night when he's laying flat, and so I was thinking we didn't have much longer until we'd probably have to try switching to Similac Alimentum. At his 5:15am feeding I got barfed all over with not much warning, and then poor Alli got soaked doing the 8:45 feeding. 😢 Poor kid was really restless and grumpy most of the afternoon and the only real time he fell asleep was after I wrapped him. I DID manage an awesome baby manicure this morning, so there's that! Take the small wins, right?

I practiced wrapping with him when he couldn't really get comfortable to go to sleep, and behold….. the WRAP NAP!!!

I love this wrap, it's "Pavo Lobsters Real" and it's gorgeous! The Carry is called FWCC (I have no idea what that stands for) and I'm going to try it tomorrow with a different wrap. It was surprisingly easy to achieve, so I was excited about that!

Got a lot done today since Wyatt was up so much it precluded a nap, so I got Divine Consign entered, more inventory made and entered for Lonestar, the guest/craft/office closet reorganized, helped a friend with some computer stuff, and generally just felt super productive. Go me! *pat on the back*

Then, we ruined it all by taking the kids out to dinner. Lol! Wyatt slept right through it but Tatum was a total PITA. She wasn't *bad* per-se but just really obnoxious and difficult. Remind me next time #SuperMom knows better than to take two kids under 3 out to dinner on a Friday night.

We started Wyatt on the alimentum two feedings ago, we'll see how this goes. I think I may also let him sleep in the Rock n Play tonight since the incline seems to help his comfort level. Hope some of that works because we're kind of running out of low-key options to try!!

Night all, until tomorrow!!!

7/26/17

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Finally got some of my stuff moved in to my booth at Lonestar Mercantile! Really liking the way the chicken wire frames display my necklaces! Just need to keep on chugging with the inventory to be ready to open August 14!!

PS- I'm using some kind of beta publisher on my phone for WordPress so have no idea how big these pics are publishing. Apologies in advance if they're huge!!

Also, Baby Wyatt's newborn pics came in today as well AND I got his announcements ordered AND they're super cute and I'm super excited about them!!

Some of my favorites!! And of course, Tatum took over, but who is surprised by that? lol!!

To be fair, swinging around a bamboo stick with fish on it around a toddler and expecting them NOT to want it is completely unrealistic parenting, but hey, who is judging us, right?

Tomorrow I'm *hopefully* getting out of the house to meet a friend for lunch, and then it's back to my "Honey Do" list I made for myself that keeps getting longer and longer and… longer. 😜